Something I have been pondering for quite a while is the subject of time. We are all aware of it, but do we really know how precious it is or is it just something else that we take for granted in our day to day lives? How many times have you told yourself “I’d like to do this or that if only I had the time”? Or another popular one, “I’ll do it when I get time” seems to be a favorite among many. The cold hard fact of the matter that I have come to realize is that we all HAVE time. It’s how we MANAGE it that makes all the difference. Let’s examine both having time and managing it. Please remember that I am no expert, this is just my humble two cents for you to spend however you may see fit.

Having Time

Anyone out there wearing a watch? If so, look down at it. If not, look at the nearest clock you have whether it be a cell phone, desk or wall clock, computer or even a sundial. It doesn’t matter. Take a look at it now. That, my friends is called time, but what exactly is it? It’s more than just the mere 24 hours in a day. Basically what I have found is that time is exactly whatever we choose to make of it. We all have schedules to keep. I have one, you have one, almost everybody keeps one. We set aside time for our jobs which is important, but what about the other things in life? As you may have learned from my last (and first) post on here, I just recently became a father for the first time. Those of you who are parents yourselves know first hand that babies grow up way too fast. My little Maggie is now 4 months old. It seems like it was only yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital. In case you missed it, here’s our little bundle. Ain’t she cute?

Magnolia Rose Thomas

Like any parent, my time is precious to me. We only get so many hours in a day and for the most part, it just isn’t enough. Most of us follow the same pattern. Get up, have some sort of breakfast, leave for work, come home from work, eat dinner, shower, bed and repeat it all the next day. My work week is pretty much a normal week however, my hours are from 12pm-8pm, Monday-Friday. By the time I get home, I still have to change, then go to the gym, come back home, shower, eat dinner and maybe relax for a few minutes before hitting the sheets only to get up a few hours later and do it all again. In the midst of all this I still need to see my wife and baby and step kids if it is their night to be with us and half the time everyone is in bed before I even get home. Talk about feeling rushed! I’m sure I’m not alone and I bet each one of you has a similar story of your own to tell regarding this very issue. Take heart dear readers, for time can be managed if we are mindful of how we spend this precious commodity.

Managing Time

Get a grip! Time can be managed!

There is a great song from my all time favorite band, Rush called “Time Stand Still”. If you haven’t heard it or are not familiar with it, I reccomend checking it out. I’ll provide it here for you to give it a listen before we proceed. Never mind how cheesy and crap-tastic the video is. Just pay attention to the lyrics.

These are just a few of my favorite lines from this song because it is something that each and everyone of us can relate to. How many times have we wished for time to stand still? It seems our children grow up way too fast, we feel a little bit older every day and our days seem to fly by quicker than a jet plane fueled by Red Bull. What is causing this madness? Is the world spinning so fast that we are somehow being propelled forward in time quicker than we want to be? Is it a cosmic trick of the universe or is it just all in how we plan our day? No matter how we look at it or how we plan our schedule, it appears that there still just isn’t enough of that blasted stuff called time to go around. So what do we do about this? Scream? Throw our hands up in the air in frustration? No. Although it may seem difficult, I have learned to simply make more time for myself. So how does one make more time, exactly? Can we add more hours to the clock to make up for what lacks throughout our days? That would be the better option for me if it were possible to do so but sadly, that just isn’t feasible for anyone to accomplish.

For me to make more time during the work week I have found what works for my situation, but what works for me may not for you. You may have to design your own routine, but it can be done. I have found that by simply getting up earlier, even if I get to bed late, it allows me to spend more time with my wife and infant daughter before leaving for the day. Yes, I may be a bit sluggish but that is why we have coffee. It’s really not so bad though. I never used to be a morning person, but having a baby helped change that around for me pretty quickly. I don’t get much time with my daughter at night because by the time I get home, my wife is getting her ready for bed. So in getting up earlier, I can spend time with the baby while the wife hits the gym in the morning, then comes home to do her homework while daddy and Maggie get some time together. Even if we’re just snoozing in the chair after her feeding, it’s still precious moments of time that I consider to be well spent. I also get time with mommy before leaving and this allows us to eat breakfast together and just sit and talk for a while before I have to leave to start my day.

Just taking these extra steps in the mornings can help make up for lost time during the day when I am at work and for what is usually not possible to do in the evenings when I get home. By doing so I feel that I am making every minute count because let’s face it…when it comes to time, we just never know when ours is going to run out. Not trying to sound morbid here, but it’s just a simple fact of life. Be accountable for every minute you have. Cherish every moment you can with your loved ones, and on your days off, no matter how busy you are, set that time aside for what matters most to you. Don’t let your business turn into busy-ness. Time is valuable and we only have so much of it. Live each day to the fullest in happiness and in health and take any moment you can to spend with those you cherish. No matter how busy you may be, live each day like it is your last, because you never know…it very well could be. Until next time.

This post is a month late and a dollar short, but I want to touch on the topic of New Year’s Resolutions. Almost everybody makes them, but it seems not everybody will keep them. Why is this? Mainly because we get sidetracked with everyday life and lose sight of our goals, or maybe we just don’t have the motivation we need to stay focused to achieve our goals. I have been guilty of this myself on more than one occasion. BUT this year is different. This year I do plan on having a “new year new me” mentality. 2014 has been a great year, but I plan on making the very best out of this one.

In January of 2014, my beautiful wife and I found out that we were expecting our very first biological child. On that following Valentine’s Day, we discovered that we were going to be blessed with a baby girl. Fast forward to September 30th, 2014 and we welcomed little Magnolia Rose Thomas into our lives. She truly is the cutest baby I have ever seen, and I’m not just saying that because she is ours. She truly is a beautiful gift from God and we are deeply blessed.

Our beautiful little bundle of joy, Magnolia Rose.

We never would have guessed that Christmas of 2013 would have found us bringing in the New Year finding out about this little angel. As I stated above, she truly is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, but I’m sure it helps when her mother is stunningly beautiful as well.

My gorgeous wife on Christmas Eve 2013.

Told you she was beautiful. Back off guys..she’s mine. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Finding out that we were expecting was truly a life changing event. We both knew that we wanted to be the best possible parents we could be for this little baby, and in order to do so, we needed to make some healthier choices in our lives. Luckily for us, a Planet Fitness franchise just opened in our neighborhood (and no, I’m not getting paid to endorse them). We both decided it was time to get in better shape, not only for us, but for our family. So at the beginning of January 2015, we decided it was time to step it up. We signed up for memberships and have been going strong for almost a month now. I’m proud that we have stuck with it, and I have already started noticing small changes in my weight. I’m not looking to become the next Abercrombie model or anything, but a leaner and toner me is on the horizon. Maybe if I get the chance, I’ll put up progress pics as we go along, but until then, we still have more work to do until that point is reached. We are both feeling better, and we are both noticing a difference in our weight too. Inch by inch, we’re getting there. It’s also a wonderful feeling climbing the stairs to the second floor of my house without getting winded. That was embarassing to admit!

I will wrap this up for now and I don’t know if anyone will ever see it, but if you happen to stumble across it, feel free to leave a comment and say hello. I hope to post regularly if time permits, so please check back often. I’ll be sharing more about me and some of my photography as well, so do come on back. Until next time, thanks for taking the time to read my little words on the web. I hope to see you again soon.